Animal-trap.



W. B. KN'APP.

ANIMAL TRAP.

PPLIoATloN FILED AUG.24.-13o9.

coLuMmA PLANDGRAPM co..w^sHlNG'roN. u. c.

Pateted Feb. 6, 1912.

A TTOHIVE Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM B. KNAPP, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY.

ANIMAL-TRAP.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, VILLIAM B. KNAPP, acitizen of the United States, residing in Paterson, Passaic county, NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAnimal-Traps; and I do hereby declare the following to be. a full,clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to lettersof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to animal traps, and particularly to'traps forcatching rats, mice and similar rodents, my principal objects being toprovide an inexpensive and eflicient trap which may be used eitherwithout or with bait.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, in which my invention is fullyillustrated, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the trap as used withoutbait; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the trap showing it attached to awall or the like over a hole formed therein and frequented by therodent, the full-lines showing the trap when used without bait and thedot-and-dash outline indicating the part employed to convert the trapinto one used with bait; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of afragment of what is shown in full linesE in Fig. 2, the trap being shownas set and a certain platform raised out of supported relation to thetrigger; Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of what is shown in Fig.2, the part which converts the trap into a bait-trap being attached andshown partly broken away; and, Fig. 5 is a perspective view of saidpart.

a is a block or plate (preferably of wood) having an orifice 6 at itslower end formed of such size as to accommodate the kind of animal to becaught; secured to the front face of the lower part of this block isanother block c (also preferably of wood) having an orifice CZregistering with and of the same size and form as the orifice Thepassage produced by these orifices has a slot e formed at the bottomthereof, and in this are arranged in line with each other two staples for other suitable pivoting devices. On the rear one of these two devicesis piv- Specication of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 24, 1909.

Patented Feb. 6, 1912.

serial No. 514,359.

oted a wire detent g, the same being a straight piece of wire having oneend formed as an eye 7L penetrated by the staple; on the forward deviceis a trigger z' which is also substantially straight except where, atone end, it is bent into an eye y' penetrated by the staple, theextremity of said end being shaped into a hook 7c, which is adapted toengage the end of the detent 9 when the latter occupies the positionshown in full lines in the drawing. The several parts f, g and z' in theposition referred to lie within the slot e below the surface of thepassage in the blocks (except the major portion of the part whichprojects horizontally forward of the block c) and the slot being rathernarrow they are not likely to be moved by the animal prematurely. Twostaples Z or other pivoting devices are secured in a horizontal line tothe front face of the block c just below the passage, and on these ispivoted the platform m, which, when the trap is set, rests on theforwardly projecting portion of the trigger z'.

The back of the block c around its orifice Z is out away to produce arabbet n surrounding said orifice, said rabbet being a part of a recess0 which terminates upwardly in two openings p, leaving an intermediatepart Q of the material between them. Said part forms a stop, and it hasa rounded under face s. A U-shaped yoke t is'movable vertically in therecess 0, it being preferably of spring-wire and having its ends, whoseextremities are formed as eyes u, passed upwardly through the openingsp. In its depressed position, the lower part of the yoke may liesubstantially concealed in the rabbet, and when raised the stop g limitsits upward motion, the curved part of the yoke conforming to the curvedface s of the stop.

v designate spring-members which carry the yoke. Each consists of apiece of spring wire having a coil 'w which bears against the top of theblock c and having one end secured to one side of the block by a stapleor the like 00 and its other end formed as an elongated hook y.; Thespring-members are crossed and their hooks y are engaged in the eyes uof the yoke. The yoke being elastic, its ends allow the hooked ends ofthe springmembers to approach each other as they rise and raise theyoke, while the yoke will expand to its normal condition when thespring-members are depressed.

In the top of the passage is preferably inserted a spur z.

As so far described the trap is designed to be used without bait. It isplaced against a wall or the like 1 having a hole 2 therein frequentedbythe rodent with its passage registering with said hole, beingpreferably secured in place by a headed screw or pin 3 received by thehole 4L in the block a. Previously, the trap has been' set by depressingthe yoke, arranging the detent g in holding relation to the lower partof the yoke, crossing the same, and engaging the hook lo of t-he triggerwith the free end of the det-ent. l/Vhen an animal attempts to leave thehole it must bear its weight upon the platform, the effect of which isto move the trigger, release the detent and allow the yoke to rise andgrip the animal, forcing its back j against the spur a.

It will be observed that, owing to the fact that the gripping mechanism,comprising the yoke t and the spring members o is disposed' and movablein a plane extending across the animal passage substantially at rightangles thereto, the thickness of the body-portion or supporting member(comprising parts a and o) of the trap may be relatively limited,measured in the direction of the length of said passage. Thel purpose ofthis is to allay the suspicions of the animal, it being obvious that theshorter the passage appears the more likely will the animal be toattempt to pass through it.

In order to adapt the trap to be used with bait, a circular groove 5 isformed in the front face of the block c, and into this groove isinserted the mouth of a cylindrical box 6 having one end closed andprovided with'a depending hook 7 for the bait 8; the hook is disposedjust far enough from the mouth of the box so that the animal must beardown upon the platform, which is inclosed within the box, before it canreach the bait. The relative disposition of the box and the body of thetrap is such that the trap can bejplaced out in a clear space as well assecured over the hole frequented by the rodents, the mouth of the boxbeing slightly flaring so that it may be fitted snugly in the groove.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

l. In an animal trap, the combination of a supporting member having apassage therethrough, a spring-actuated part movable across said passageand normally standing at one side of the same, said passage having aslot at its other side, and a trip mechanism adapted to hold the saidpart at said other side of the passage and having the part thereofengageable with said springactuated part concealed in the slot andanother part thereof projecting in position to be engaged by the animalin said passage, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a support comprising two substantially flat blockssecured face to face, one of said blocks extending higher than theother, said blocks having almed oriiices forming a passage in saidmember, upwardly acting crossing springs secured to and extending overthe second-named block, said second-named block having in the facethereof adjoining the higher block a recess surroundingV t-he orifice insaid secondnamed block, a U-shaped member arranged with its lowerportion in said recess and having its extremities extending upwardlythrough the second-named block and respectively att-ached to the ends ofsaid springs, and a trip mechanism arranged in said member at the lowerside of said passage and normally restraining said member Aagainst' theupward pull of said springs, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a supporting member having a passage therethroughand a continuous groove surrounding said passage, a cylindricalbait-holding member having one end closed and the other end open andreceived by said groove, a spring-actuated part movable across saidpassage and normally standing at one side of the same, Jand a tripmechanism engageable with said part to hold the same at the other sideof said passage, substantially as described.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set niy handthis 23rd day of August, 1909.

WM. B. KNAP'P.

Witnesses:

JOHN W. STEWARD, WM. D. BELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of :Patenti:-

, Washington, D. C.

